I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tree supporting stands and, more particularly, to a stand for mounting Christmas trees in a substantially upright position to facilitate the decorating and displaying of the Christmas tree.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Stands for supporting trees, such as Christmas trees, in an upright position are well known and have been employed for many years. U.S. Pat. No. 3,051,423 is typical of many of the known devices for supporting Christmas trees in a vertical position. This patent discloses a stand that has a water-tight container including a frusto-conically shaped, funnel-like top having a central opening for the reception of the tree trunk. The funnel-like top aids in the filling of the container with water for the tree. For the support of the tree trunk a sleeve is fixed within the opening in the top and means, such as thumb screws or the like, threadingly engage the walls of the sleeve so as to secure the tree trunk to the container. The construction is typical of many commercially available Christmas tree stands. Of particular interest is that this device utilizes an attachment secured to the lower terminal end of the tree trunk such that the same is received in a corresponding recess in the base of the tree holder so as to secure the terminal end of the tree to the holder, as well as permit a relative amount of pivotal movement between the tree and the holder as the thumb screws are moved with respect to the tree.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,694,815 discloses a Christmas tree stand which includes a plurality of radially extending legs that rotatably support a cup-shaped receptacle which, in turn, is provided with a plurality of thumb screws that engage the tree trunk when the same is positioned within the cup-shaped recess so as to secure the tree trunk to the stand. A bearing-type arrangement between the cup-shaped support and the legs permits relative, rotational movement of the tree about the fixed stand to facilitate decorating and positioning of the tree.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,681,780 discloses a Christmas tree stand that includes a rotatable holder for the Christmas tree trunk, the holder containing water for the tree and being so designed so as to permit raising and lowering of the stand to achieve a vertical adjustment of the tree height after it has been mounted to the holder. Suitable locking devices are provided to lock the tree holder in an adjusted, vertical position, while at the same time permitting the tree to be rotated relative to the tree holder so as to present the most attractive side of the tree.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,099 discloses a device which permits relative, rotational movement of a support end with respect to a fixed, ground-engaging support element. The support end of the device provides a means for adjusting the same so that the article carried thereby may be raised and lowered and also tilted and rotated about a vertical axis.
While each of the aforementioned patents is relevant to applicant's invention in that they disclose various types of apparatus for the mounting of a Christmas tree so as to support the same in a vertical position, none disclose applicant's novel and unique means of a pivotal connection between the Christmas tree stand legs and the Christmas tree trunk-engaging portion thereof so as to permit the adjustment of the tree position and incline the tree with respect to the vertical so as to provide a simple means for adjusting for irregularities in the shape of the tree and, in particular, for crooked trunks.